Enbridge continues to invest heavily in its pipelines and other businesses. Since 2008, it has started up over $12 billion worth of new growth projects. That’s equal to 39% of its market cap.

The company now wants to take advantage of rising oil sands production by building the Northern Gateway pipeline, which would pump crude oil from Edmonton to a proposed …read more »

Ten oil sands operators have already agreed to use Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline, which would let them ship more of their oil to Asia. These companies have also pledged a total of $200 million to fund the new line’s initial development and engineering.

Enbridge has not said which oil companies have committed to the pipeline, but this group likely includes Suncor, …read more »

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $52 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $57.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.scotiabank.com) is raising $1.7 billion by selling up to 33 million common shares for $50.25 each. The bank is also thinking about selling Scotia Plaza, its 68-storey office tower …read more »

ENCANA CORP. $19 (Toronto symbol ECA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 736.3 million; Market cap: $14.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.8; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.encana.com) is one of North America’s largest natural gas producers. The company prefers to focus on large unconventional reserves, including shale gas, which is natural gas that is trapped in rock formations. …read more »

ATCO and its main subsidiary, Canadian Utilities, have two major pluses that help them cut their risk: both get around two-thirds of their earnings from regulated power and gas utilities, and both have many clients under long-term contracts. The resulting stable revenue streams help them invest in new projects and raise their dividends.

ATCO LTD. (Toronto symbols ACO.X [class I non-voting] …read more »

EMERA INC. $33 (Toronto symbol EMA; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 122.2 million; Market cap: $4.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.emera.com) will invest an extra $83 million U.S. in seven American wind-power projects after its partner, Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (Toronto symbol AQN), dropped out of the joint venture. As a result, …read more »

TORSTAR CORP. $8.96 (www.torstar.com) recently bought Heartsong Presents Book Club, a publisher of Christian romance novels, for an undisclosed sum through its Harlequin book-publishing subsidiary. This purchase nicely complements Harlequin’s “Love Inspired” line of inspirational novels. Best Buy.

PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $9.90 (www.pengrowth.com) will focus on developing its western Canadian oil properties in 2012. Due to lower natural gas prices, it …read more »

All of our real estate investment trust (REIT) recommendations have moved up in the past year, but we still think they offer attractive long-term returns at relatively low risk. RioCan is particularly appealing because of its high-quality properties, reliable tenants and high occupancy rates.

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25.79 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 267.0 million; Market cap: $6.9 billion; …read more »

PENGROWTH ENERGY CORP. $9.98 (Toronto symbol PGF; Shares outstanding: 329.3 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 8.4%; www.pengrowth.com) has improved its dividend
reinvestment plan (DRIP).

The company is now giving investors who are enrolled in the plan two options: they can reinvest their dividends in additional shares at a 5% discount to the market price, or they can …read more »

Ottawa’s tax on income trust distributions took effect over a year ago, on January 1, 2011.

Most trusts have already converted to corporations in response. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are exempt, however, so they will remain as trusts.

All but one of our trust recommendations have converted. We still like the long-term outlook for all these picks, and we see them …read more »